The Thirteenth v2
by Darth Malleus
Summary: In hindsight, the chances of the Colonials being reunited with their supposedly long lost thirteenth tribe through this method is technically impossible, it certainly wasn't planned by either side, and the religious zealots, killer robots, power hungry politicians and desperate Goa'uld certainly didn't help matters... ah well, C'est la vie. recreation of an old work.
1. Prologue

_**Battlestar Galactica**_

_**Stargate**_

_**The Thirteenth**_

_**Prologue**_

_Galactica_

_Columbia-class Battlestar_

_Colonial Space_

Lieutenant Carol Adama did one last pre-flight check, checking over the dials and displays of her pilots console to make sure they were right before turning back as her co-pilot and navigator looked over at her with a cheeky smirk. "I know it's your first mission rook, but try to relax."

Carol nodded her head, but her nerves remained. She had done plenty of simulations and even a few actual test flights in a Raptor when she was in the academy, but the knowledge that this was her first mission still made her nervous. It wasn't even considered a tricky assignment, no near death experiences or threat of harm, it was just a simple milk run, so why the frak was she feeling so nervous.

Carol was the pup of the litter, the youngest child in the family, and she was the rookie pilot of the group, mainly because when she graduated she had made it clear that she wanted to have her first post on the _Galactica_, her father's own ship. She had wanted to be there, serving under the old man when he retired alongside the old bird he was decommissioning.

And her first mission in active service was a frakking milk run to Caprica, to pick up a few veteran members of the crew who were invited to attend the decommissioning ceremony. She knew in these times she wasn't going to have a combat sortie or a patrol as her first mission, but a god's damned milk run, in a Raptor no less. If she didn't know her father any better she would say he was coddling her.

"_Galactica _Actual this is Raptor Two Zero requesting permission to launch over." Harvey 'Deadeye' Mendez called over the com, waiting for the crackling voice of the CIC.

"_Roger that Raptor two zero, you are clear to launch." _

"Copy that," Deadeye replied before turning over to Carol with a teasing smile. "Now ease her out nice and steady Spitfire, this isn't a Viper your flying."

At least she got a kickass call sign. "I know."

"Just saying, with you we'll probably burn out the sublight engines before we even leave the hanger." Deadeye jabbed lightly, to which Carol huffed at him. How the pilots found out about that little incident in the simulator she had no idea, but it followed her like the plague. She stewed on this as they were raised up to the main flight deck; completely open to the vacuum of space.

"Easy Spitfire," Mendez said softly, watching as she placed gloved hands on the joystick, right hand activating the Raptors thrusters and bringing it to a hover before retracting the landing gear. Then they were out, passing through the gapping doors of the starboard hanger bay and into open space. "_Galactica_ Actual, this is Raptor Two Zero, we are away."

"_Copy that Raptor Two Zero, we'll keep a pot of coffee ready for ya' when you get home."_

Deadeye chuckled, and even Carol couldn't help but allow a small smile to cross her lips. She would be sorry when they decommissioned the old girl and scattered the crew, mainly because Thrace owed her thirty credits from last night's poker game, but also that it felt like she was in the dorms at Caprica City University again, the pilots she was with acted like one big fraternity, even going as far as pulling pranks on each other, the two streaks of blonde in her usually auburn hair was testament to that.

"Not bad Spitfire, nice and steady." he said softly, while he was busy inputting the coordinates for Caprica.

"You remind me a little of my first flight instructor." She muttered under her breath, though she fully intended for him to hear her.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, nice guy, couldn't fly worth a damn though." She grinned.

"Excuse me, you're looking at the safest pair of hands in the fleet, I can make a jump to the red line and back as if it were child's play." Deadeye shot back with a teasing smirk.

"Well you're going to prove it to me, wise guy. Get those safe hands on spooling up the FTL and let's get this milk run over with."

"Now I see why everyone calls you Spitfire." Deadeye muttered wryly as he continued to dial the coordinates with relative ease born from years of practice. "I had a feeling it was because of the rumours you had a quick temper."

"Want to find out?" she asked with a raised brow.

"Striking a superior officer is generally frowned upon," he warned, though there was mirth in his chocolate orbs.

"I don't need to strike you," Carol smirked as she looked over. "Didn't you hear the rumours? I could kill a man with a single puff of the tongue."

"Dirty thoughts coming on," a lazy smile as he sat back.

"Bite me smartass," Carol shot back. "Get those safe hands of yours to work."

"Already done, coordinate are in. Punch it."

"Finally."

Carol waited, preparing for the slight nausea of an FTL jump and getting it in spades as the Raptor flashed out of existence, all went well the jump would last the better part of a couple of seconds, then they would be in orbit above Caprica and preparing for a landing. It was supposedly supposed to be a normal milk run; history would remember it as a milk run which went wrong.

The first sign that something was wrong was when the Raptor lurched to a stop with such violence that it threw Carol and Deadeye right into their crash webbing with bruising speed, knocking the wind from her lungs as the Raptor made a sudden exit. Alarm claxons blared, red warning lights flashed across the dashboard as the gunship spun out of control with nauseating force. As her vision swam Carol could swear she saw smoke billowing in a circular tale, following them.

"What the hell... is going on!?" she shouted in near panic, trying to bring her attention to the flashing lights of her dashboard.

"Hold on," Deadeye called as he undid his crash webbing and forced himself to his feet, almost falling onto his own console before forcing himself into the back and to the FTL controls, using everything he had to remain on his feet.

Carol grabbed hold of her joystick and pulled back, trying to slow the decline and stop the spin, but they were completely unresponsive and she began to notice that the dashboard was beginning to spark, "What's happening back there Deadeye!"

"Oh holy frak, the fuel cells have ruptured, their leaking into the FT-"

An explosion cut off her co-pilots sentence, red hot air blasted the back of her head and the unmistakable hue of flames caste an eerie glow across the cabin, the lights flashed and went dark, only to be replaced by duller reddish emergency lighting barely a second later. Carol turned her head, about to call for her co-pilot, only for them to widen in fright as she saw him, face down on the decking.

She quickly undid her crash webbing and got to her feet, ignoring the mounting nausea as she staggered over to her co-pilot and pushed him onto his back, his name on the tip of her tongue. The first thing she noticed was the blood, pooling crimson droplets onto the deck, the next thing she saw was his lifeless eyes and the piece of shrapnel imbedded in his throat, cutting it open like a sick crimson grin.

"Oh by the gods of Kobol," She whimpered, eyes wide in shock.

Her stomach was churning and her head was light as she staggered back to her feet, only for a further explosion to rock the ship. She staggered over to the pilot's chair, hoping that she might be able to level the bird out, but the console sparked and exploded in her face, pain shot through her side and something hard smashed into her visor, leaving a small spider web of cracks running along the left hand side.

She looked down to see a piece of shrapnel imbedded in her flight suit, long and sharp, right through the right side of her abdomen, blood turned her jumpsuit from gray to vermillion, running down her pant leg. She grimaced, but ignored the pain and forced herself back into her chair, hastily clipping herself back into the crash webbing, even as the dashboard continued to spark. She gripped the control yoke with both hands, attempting to try and level the Raptor out, but she soon realised she was uncontrollable.

Another explosion rocked the dashboard, and then all she saw was fire, crawling up her hands, a burning, searing pain assaulted her senses as she let go of the joystick with a scream of agony. Another explosion blinded her, and another sharp jolt of pain, this time in her left ankle as another piece of shrapnel stabbed right through, piercing flesh and bone.

There was no way she was going to save this ship. She could already feel the telltale signs that she was about to black out, the force of the descent alongside her injuries were already darkening her eyes. She had to eject or she was going to die, just like Deadeye. Weakly, feebly she reached for the lever on her right side, which operated the ejector and pulled it.

There was a sudden lurch as her chair was launched from the Raptor and out into the open, the inertia slamming her head against her chest, something hit her helm, and more pain flooded her vision before she was free from the dying craft. She flew up high, noticing through her darkening eyes the blue of a cloudless sky and a sudden coarse slashing of high altitude winds, she was in the atmosphere, was it Caprica? It had to be. She felt the parachute explode from the back of her chair, another lurch as she fell, form crashing painfully into her harness as she was suddenly slowed.

Darkness took her soon after that.

* * *

Athena frowned as she watched the anomaly break through the upper atmosphere of the habitable planet below, a burning ball of metal, pieces of debris breaking off its form as it descended in an out of control spin. It was definitely a ship of some description, small, as small as an Al'Kesh and although it was badly damaged she could tell it was a design which was foreign to her.

Her first thought was how it could get so close to the ship without being detected by the sensors, perhaps it was cloaked, but there was an energy reading not affiliated with such technology before it appeared. One moment she had been doing routine checks of the Ha'taks controls, more out of boredom than anything else, then there was a flash of energy on the dials, and then the anomaly had appeared, hurtling through the atmosphere of the only habitable planet in the system.

It hadn't used a hyperdrive engine, the readings she had detected were nothing like any form of faster than light travel she had witnessed, what was more the ship had appeared _within _the atmosphere of the planet, a move which would have ripped apart any ship using any known means of faster than light travel.

She gritted her teeth, knowing that her current master would not approve of her making a sojourn to deal with her curiosity, then again he was asleep in his sarcophagus, it would only take a few moments to send a party down to check.

Curiosity soon won over her fear. "Jaffa!"

One of the guards of the Pel'tak stepped forward, bowing his head quickly. "Yes."

"Assemble a group and send them to investigate that ship." She ordered, watching the warrior with trepidation she hoped didn't show. The Empire was all but a distant memory, with the accursed Tau'ri and the Jaffa rebellion which shattered the ancient institution, most Jaffa had turned their backs on their old masters and embraced the idea of the Free Jaffa Nation with only those who truly believed to an almost fanatical level remaining.

"Lord Zeus decried that we must not stop, for anything." The Jaffa said grimly, watching her just as carefully. Athena glared at him, a glare which would make any of these lower creatures cringe in fear, but the problem with her current master's underlings was that they were as fearless as he was, and feared nothing but him.

"I am aware of what Lord Zeus has decreed," she snarled. "However while he is in hibernation I am in command, do you understand?"

The Jaffa hesitated, before nodding his head. "I apologise Lady Athena, very well."

Athena knew well why he had decreed as such. The Ha'tak they were upon was being hunted by a Tau'ri warship. They had been hunting them ever since they had left known space, and everyone knew that this ship, which was once the mainstay of any Goa'uld fleet, was no match for the highly advanced Battlecruisers of the humans. It made Athena's blood boil. Knowing that they should have obliterated the Tau'ri the moment they were perceived as a threat instead of simply fighting amongst themselves.

It wasn't just the Tau'ri and the Jaffa Rebellion they had helped initialise. She admitted that although they were one of the main contributors to the downfall of the Goa'uld and their empire, they were just one of several factors which led to their destruction. There was also the age old infighting between the numerous System Lords, the invasion of the Replicators, the return of Anubis and the To'kra. The empire was no more by the time the Ori led their crusade upon the galaxy, and this led to their greatest enemies gaining technology and power from the equally accursed Asgard before their extinction.

Athena had seen what the weapons of the Tau'ri were capable off, she had watched the feed of a single one of their Battlecruisers, armed with the latest shields and weaponry available to them, pierce through the shields and armour of an Ori Mothership, the same vessel which could withstand an attack from a dozen Ha'taks and still emerge victorious. Yes the Tau'ri may not be united on their home world, and the majority of their population were in the dark of their own adventures, but even so they were now one of the ultimate powers in the known galaxy.

Now all they could do was run, find some small place in the unknown to rebuild. That was what Zeus, possibly the last System Lord in existence, had decreed.

She turned back to the viewscreen, not giving the Jaffa a glance as he stalked out of the Pel'tak, shouting an order for another two of the guards to follow him, leaving Athena alone in her silent anger. The moment she had the chance she would kill that Jaffa for his insolence, quietly though, Zeus could be very possessive of what he considered his and didn't like it when others destroyed his property, whether inanimate objects or living breathing creatures.

* * *

Achilles looked impassively upon the smouldering wreckage of the unknown craft, his handpicked party of Jaffa either sifting through the wreckage or searching through the surrounding land for any sign of the ship's crew. The warrior had never seen such a craft before; though it reminded him somewhat of the infernal designs conjured by the Tau'ri and their ilk.

The unknown vessel had carved a line of destruction in its wake. It appeared to slam into the final line of trees, cutting through them like a scythe before slamming into the ground, leaving a ten meter crevice until it came to a final stop. If there was anyone still in the craft when it hit the earth then it was impossible that they had survived such a crash.

The Al'Kesh hovered overhead, low hum of its engines reminding the elite warrior that it was there to provide support if needed. The warrior felt better with it nearby, ready for anything which would creep up from the ruins of this craft. It seemed that it was not required.

Achilles would not say this out loud, but he simmered at what such a waste of time this was. His master was in danger, and the lesser goddess had demanded that they come to a stop to investigate the anomaly this craft had produced. It was not his place to question one who was chosen by Zeus.

He turned to see one of his Jaffa by his side, and with a simple motion of his head allowed him to speak. "There is one body within the wreckage my lord, charred beyond recognition. The ship is badly damaged, and likely beyond salvaging."

Achilles nodded, as he had surmised himself. Even if the ship was salvageable they would not have the time needed to carry out such a feat. "Continue searching for any survivors, if there are none we will return to the mothership."

The Jaffa nodded and moved to relay the order, leaving one of the chosen warriors of Zeus to his thoughts. He had seen insight in informing the First Prime of their god, Heracles, as to why Athena had seen it in her wisdom to stop their withdrawal from known space. He in turn would be replaying this knowledge to Zeus himself, and if Achilles knew one thing from his long years of service it was that the master of Olympus did not like it when someone circumvented his orders.

"My Prime," Achilles turned his head, seeing the same Jaffa. "We have found a survivor."

"Show me." He stated simply.

The Jaffa nodded, and led him from the small rolling hill he had perched himself on down into the forest and away from the crash site. The trees were thick and tall, probably standing for centuries with a thick canopy which blocked out all but the most determined rays of sunlight, piercing through the small gaps. On the forest floor there didn't seem to be anything other than patches of flat land, covered in bushes and unearthed roots of the great trees, some so thick they reached up to his waist.

The Jaffa led him through this maze for about fifty meters, finally coming across the rest of his squad. Six Jaffa stood at the ready, in a rough circle, their staff weapons held up and ready. Achilles frowned, and then looked up in time to see why they were so alert. It was a human, a woman, held tight against the crash webbing of what could only be a pilot's seat. There was a parachute, tangled up in the thick canopy and strong branches, leaving the human dangling in midair, obviously unconscious. Below her was a body of water, little more than waist deep.

"Shall we kill her, my Prime?" one of the Jaffa asked, and his staff complied, the tip retracting with a snap and a charge of energy, ready to be fired.

Achilles thought for a moment, killing the human would be the easiest course of action, but Athena had been very interested in the anomaly of the ship she had been the pilot off, and killing her would undoubtedly make the goddess angry. "No, cut her down and bind her. We will take her back to the mothership."

"Yes, my Prime."

Three Jaffa activated their staffs and fired, blasts of energy burned the cord keeping the chair dangling in midair, a snap and the chair was falling, right into the body of water below with a splash. Two of his warriors wadded into the pool, drawing short swords to cut the human from her bindings. Roughly they brought her to shore and dropped her before him.

Achilles knelt, hand pressing into the humans neck, checking for and finding a pulse, weak but there. He pushed her onto her back, and immediately took note of the injuries. The most noticeable was the piece of metal imbedded in her abdomen, blood soaking through her flight suit, her hands were badly burned and he noticed that there was a crack in her helmet; blood could just be seen running along her right cheek.

"Call for transportation rings." He ordered, receiving a shout of acknowledgement from one of his underlings. It would not do if Athena's newest toy died before the goddess could get her hands on her would it?

* * *

Carol awoke slowly and immediately whimpered in agony as every single fibre of her being seemed to be on fire. Her hands burned, the pain in her abdomen, her ankle which had numbed before she blacked out, returned with a vengeance and her head felt groggy, like someone had run her over with a truck.

The memories of what happened to her flashed before her eyes so fast that it hurt even more. She was supposed to be on her first flight, a simple pickup mission to Caprica. Her co-pilot, Deadeye, had plotted the course and then everything went to hell. She remembered Deadeye lying lifeless on the deck, of explosions, of her hands being on fire, of her screaming in pain as she forced her ruined hands to buckle herself into her crash webbing and hit the ejection lever.

She opened her eyes, forcing her tears away, noticing after a moment that she was on some kind of a table, her neck, wrists, waist and ankles held tightly within metal restraints. She tried to pull against them, to get free, but she was so weak it took a great deal of effort to try and raise her head.

"Ah, you're awake."

It was a voice, feminine, which caught her attention. Slowly, weakly she turned her head to see a figure, a woman, sitting slouched on a table, a cloth covering whatever contents were upon it. She was beautiful, Carol would admit, with long vibrant blonde hair falling across her back in waves, perfect alabaster skin, deep almost hypnotic blue eyes with full dark red lips. The woman jumped to her feet, revealing a womanly almost hourglass shaped figure, covered by white robes tied by a blue sash along her waist.

"W-who-" Carol tried to ask as she sauntered close to her, but it came out as a fit of coughing, she tasted a coppery taste in her mouth, and felt something warm and wet drip from the left side of her mouth. Was that blood? Her mouth felt like sandpaper, coppery sandpaper.

The angelic creature before her smiled, as if the sight of her blood was something wondrous. "Now, now, you shouldn't try to exert yourself with the condition you're in."

"C-condition?" Carol asked, mind foggy and incomplete.

She knew the moment the words left her mouth that it sounded stupid, off course she'd be in bad condition. She had just survived a frakking air crash for the god's sake. She managed to weakly look down to see where the piece of shrapnel had been lodged into her stomach, eyes widening in horror, it was still there. Her suddenly frantic eyes looked left and right in time to see her ruined hands, the gloves almost seemed to be fused to the skin, and anything exposed was either red and raw or black.

Carol screamed. She couldn't help herself, seeing her injuries brought the agony back, stronger than ever. Her mind was equally screaming at her. She was in an unknown place, her wounds hadn't even received basic first aid and she was clamped to a stone operating table by metal restraints. The room she was in didn't look anything even remotely close to a hospital ward, the lighting was dim, the bed she was tied too looked more like a stone slab than anything, and along the ornate walls which seemed to shimmer from an unknown material were tables, cloths covering whatever was laid out on them. It was obvious that this woman wasn't here to help her.

The woman sighed, "Dear me you are noisy."

Her voice, soft, silky and calm brought her back from the red hot agony she was feeling, and she looked over at this woman with a mixture of pure unadulterated fear and true, pure hatred. She seemed to enjoy her suffering, the fact she was smiling sweetly while witnessing such a thing made Carol question whether this woman was human or not.

"Now then," she said pleasantly, slapping her hands together softly with an innocent smile. She was towering over Carol now, looking at her with soulless blue eyes. "I have some questions for you, and if you want those wounds treated you will answer, okay?"

Carol didn't answer, her military training kicking in before the woman finished her sentence. "Caroline Adama, Lieutenant, call sign Spitfire, UCS _Galactica, _service number 156-4129-347."

"Ah look, you think you can resist me," the woman chirped, smile morphing from sweet and innocent to cruel and malicious as she reached out to Carol with a single slender, manicured hand. "Rest assured my dear you will answer my questions, with your dignity or not is entirely up to you. Now, first question... where are you from?"

Carol looked at her with hard eyes. Eyes which she hoped gave this woman her answer. She will not tell whatever she threw at her, her military training took paramount over her fear for her own wellbeing. "Caroline Adama, Lieutenant, call sign Spitfire, UCS _Galactica, _service number 156-4129-347."

"So be it." She opened her hand, it was only then that she saw that her hand and forearm were covered by some sort of material, giving it the look of a glove, almost like ribbons of gold circling around her fingers, hand and forearm, in the centre of her palm was a red crystal, imbedded in a golden circle which flashed crimson. The moment it flashed Carol was hit by a wave of pain which dwarfed anything she felt before, it was like invisible phantom fingers had pierced her skull and crushing her brain in a vicelike grip.

Carol screamed, struggling futilely against her restraints as wave after wave of gruesome, nausea inducing agony seemed to coarse through her body. It seemed to last for an eternity, and when it stopped the Colonial pilot fell on her back, feeling every muscle in her body twitch, aching and burning, breathe leaving her in shallow gasps. She felt the warm wetness of blood, both smelling and tasting the copper.

"Back to my first question," the woman, no, not woman, _thing_,said with a smile. "Where are you from?"

"C-c-Caroline Adama...L-L-Lieu-Lieutenant... Call s-... call sign Spit...fire-"

"You're a tough one," the woman said thoughtfully, raising her gold coiled hand again. "This will be interesting."

The torture chamber, and the hallway beyond, filled with anguished screams.

* * *

_**Okay, in case no one was aware by now... The original story, The Thirteenth, is officially scrapped. I'm going to delete it from my account within a week of publishing this first chapter because, in all honesty, I hate it. Looking back I woefully underpowered Earth, I made a mistake with introducing Greek Pantheon Goa'uld when I could have run with religious fanatics, and I decided the ending of Stargate SG-1 wasn't so bad after all, the finishing movies were great. **_

_**To anyone who thinks the first part of the chapter looks remarkably similar to 'A Brutal Truth' by BIG Z1776 you would be one hundred percent correct there, his story was what made me try this little project in the first place. Before anyone asks I got the guys permission to use the basic setup of his own Prologue. If you haven't read it then do, great story, a little over the top on information, but still great story.**_

_**I've written the first four and a half chapters to this story before posting this to make sure I am actually going to continue writing it, so don't worry about there being one update and then nothing. This is a little bit of a teaser, I'll start publishing this story properly every Sunday after the New Year, gives me a little extra time to get a few more chapters ready before I begin in earnest.**_

_**Don't forget to leave a review, tell me what you think.**_


	2. Thunder

_**Chapter 1**_

_**Thunder**_

_Deep Space_

_Goa'uld Ha'tak_

_Mothership of Zeus_

Carol sobbed as the throbbing pain continued to course through her body, every millimetre of her flesh screamed in agony as her mind recoiled upon the memories of what had happened to her in the past few days. She thought days, but in reality she had no idea how long she had been strapped to this slab of stone, at the whim of the monsters sadistic pleasure.

The torture had continued, on and on, every time she had thought she had gained a moment of rest it had begun again, just as intense as the last time. The woman had used her device to inflict pain upon her in the form of electrification, burning light and phantom daggers of pain which would make her scream, cry and beg. Nothing stopped the monster in the guise of a woman, no amount of begging or pleading for her to stop worked. She would ask the same questions over and over again, and when Carol refused to answer or just didn't know the pain would start again.

When it looked like the torture had been too much and Carol slipped into unconsciously, sure she was about to die she would awaken to find her wounds, made almost fatal by the torture, were back to the way they were roughly before she had first awoken in this hellish place. The woman's device didn't just inflict pain, but also seemed to have the ability to heal wounds.

She was in the underworld, Carol was sure of this, and this woman was one of the Furies of Hades, sent to inflict punishment for her sins. The young Adama frantically tried to remember every aspect of her life, everything she had done wrong which would give justification to this kind of savage torture, but if the basic wrongs of her life ended in such pain and suffering she wandered what would happen to those who murdered, raped, lied, cheated and stole.

No, she shook her head with raw determination, recently shed tears flying as she attempted to lease her sanity back in place. This was not the underworld. She wasn't in the torture chambers in the depths of Tartarus. She was still alive. Every fibre of her being screamed as to why she still doggedly hung on to this belief, and her answer was simple. The Colonies, this monster of a woman wanted to know the location to the Colonies, her home, was and Carol Adama would not yield, even if she did not know where they were, she would not yield, for if this woman and her ilk found her home she shuddered to think what they would do.

The doors at the other end of the chamber slid open, and Carol once again steeled her resolve, shook her head to dry her tears and waited for the next round of torture and suffering from this horrific woman. Let her continue all she wanted, until she had her fill or Carol finally died, she would not tell her where her home was.

The monster walked in, looking almost as if she were gliding across the floor right to her side, her smile becoming cruel and vindictive the moment those monstrous blue orbs fell upon her, originally it was with such glee but now with annoyance and borderline anger. It warmed Carol's heart that finally she was starting to get under the skin of her torturer.

"Hello my little pet," the woman greeted with a sickly sweet smile. "So will you answer my questions today, or will I continue to cause you pain?"

"Caroline Adama, L-Lieutenant, call sign S-s-Spitfire, UCS G-_Galactica, _service number 156-4129-347." Carol spoke the words with a tenacity she had never felt before. Her voice was a croak compared to what she remembered. She must have smelled awful with the scents of blood, sweat, and urine from when her bowels gave out. She would not yield.

"You are quite insufferable, you know."

And so the torture began again. Carol felt the electricity coursing through her veins, the fire burning away her skin, the phantom dagger digging into her head until she had trouble remembering her own name and her families faces, the smell and taste of blood which at this stage she had almost lost the sense to remember, and finally the monster in human bones who now seemed to finally be losing her human visage, her face morphing into an animalistic snarl as she asked the same frakking questions over and over again, followed by her repeating the same identification code over and over again.

She blacked out at some point, coming too to find her wounds the same as they were before. A shuddering breath was released from her mouth, before that same accursed red stone appeared in her vision and a wave of electricity ran along her body again. She screamed again, feeling her mind, her sanity, fading away, but she held onto it with the tenacity of her Uncles bulldog when he saw something he liked.

"You are a stubborn little wretch, aren't you?" The Fury asked with a snarl of anger, releasing her grip on her torture device and letting Carol hit the cold stone, eyes wide open and glazed over, breathe coming and going in hurried, shallow gasps. Her mind felt like a blank slate, it was difficult to think, difficult to feel, everything felt like a huge toll, that if she closed her eyes again, allowed death's hands to grasp around her, she would finally know peace.

No.

She will not give in.

She forced her eyes open, to see twin orbs as deep and dark and the deepest depths of the ocean glare at her with true hatred. "To think that I, Athena, would be unable to break a little lowly wretch like you is inconceivable."

Athena?

Something welled up inside of her, something deep and primal, something she had only felt a select few times in her life. Rage was the feeling. She felt rage, such was the strength of this emotion that her vision swam with red, her teeth ground together. She forgot the pain, forgot the agony, forgot how sullied and unclean she was. She had forgotten everything other than a cold, black, burning rage strengthened from what seemed like an eternity of torture and suffering.

"What," she began; breathe leaving her in shallow, hoarse, vicious gasps. "What d-did you say y-your name was?"

The woman looked at her, hard eyes glaring into her as sharp as daggers. "I am Athena, daughter of Zeus."

"You lie," the conviction in her words surprised even her, let alone her torturer.

_Athena _turned back to her, eyes aglow with demonic light, her voice changed to one more suited to her nature, a demonic echoing sound. "What did you say?"

"You lie, you are not the goddess Athena," Caroline all but screamed with her hoarse and croaking voice. She found strength she had considered lost, and began to struggle, futilely but with conviction against her restraints, hearing them clatter against what little strength she had left. "Athena was the one who took our people from the devastation of our home and led us to salvation. She was gracious and kind, honourable and just, caring and compassionate. You are not her, you are not Athena!"

Her sudden strength, the fire in her eyes startled the monster before her, she saw it, she knew it, and she took pride in it. Carol didn't consider herself particularly religious, not by a long shot but just hearing this monster say that she was the patron goddess of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol made her blood boil as hot as if she were threatening her own father.

"Sorry to disappoint you child," the monster chided, schooling her features even as her eyes once again flashed a sickly gold. "But I am Athena, the one and only."

"You lying, manipulative snake," Carol cried out, eyes burning with such hatred that if looks could kill the demon before her would be burned to a cinder. "If I am ever released from these shackles I will tear out your throat with my teeth! How dare you take her name, how _dare_ you!"

The monster snarled openly at her, hand raised and crimson stone flashing like some malicious mood ring as she approached. "How dare a lesser being like you question who I am, prepare to meet your end, _human_!"

She made it two steps when the entire superstructure began to shake, an explosion sounded in the distance and the shaking increased to the point where the monster before her had to use one of the many tables to keep her balance. The thing who had Athena's name looked around frantically, surprise and consternation on her deceptively beautiful features.

Another explosion and another bout of powerful tremors almost brought her torturer to her knees, but she remained standing and staggered her way to the sliding doors, but the doors were not her destination, rather the small device imbedded in the wall to the right. Carol blinked, watching as beakers and anything not strapped down fell from their places, smashing the ground and shattering into hundreds of pieces.

Something was attacking this place, something big.

Hope blossomed within her, maybe she wasn't on a planet like she thought, maybe she was on a ship of some kind, maybe the tremors and explosions were the sounds of combat, no, she was sure that something was attacking this place.

What if it was a Battlestar?

What if it was the _Galactica_?

"Daddy," she whimpered, a small smile crossing her blood stained lips before her last ounces of consciously ended, but she refused to let the darkness take her, something kept her awake, call it curiosity but she wanted to know what was attacking the ship the monster and she was on.

"This is Athena, what is happening?" the creature which had the patron goddesses name nearly shouted into the device.

A voice broke through the static, crackly and barely recognisable, but still only just so. _"My goddess, it's the Tau'ri. Their ship has caught up to us!"_

"What," the pretender nearly shrieked into the, "But how, how could those dirty _humans_ catch up to us!?"

Before Caroline slipped into unconsciousness, a single word seemed to echo through her mind, an echo which brought confusion, but also a renewed sense of hope to her near shattered mind.

Human...

* * *

_HMS Ark Royal_

_BC-304/Daedalus-class Battlecruiser_

_Deep Space_

Horatio Wolfe had to admit when he originally agreed to be the Commander of the Commonwealth's newest BC-304 Battlecruiser, officially known as the _Daedalus-class _he had certainly expected to be put into the situation he had seen in sci-fi films like Star Wars, Star Trek and Halo. The idea of fighting alien enemies and foreign invaders, to make sure that they would never be able to step foot on the soil of Earth, was something he expected and revelled in seeing, especially after reading the field reports of Stargate command over the last decade.

He had certainly expected it, just not during his vessels maiden voyage. He had expected him and his crew to take a simple run from Earth and the Solar System to the Alpha Site on P4X-650, just about six hundred and forty light years away from his home world. Instead they had been contacted by Homeworld security and Stargate International Command; a Ha'tak commanded by one of the last System Lords of the now defunct Goa'uld Empire had been kidnapping Humans across known space and was now making a run for it into the unknown.

So Group Captain Horatio Wolfe and his crew had been saddled with a veteran officer of Stargate Command. An American whose full name and rank was Lieutenant-Colonel Samantha Carter, formerly a member of the equally infamous and famous Stargate team known as SG-1, and now one of the most renowned and sought after officers when it came to off-world technologies and technological innovations.

Now he was in combat with her, ode to joy.

"Captain, we have caught up with the enemy, orders sir?"

"Cut hyperdrive engines, arm rail guns, prep missile salvoes and get the beam cannon online asap," he ordered easily from his command chair. "The second we hit real-space I want every weapons system ready to fire!"

"You forgot the shields, Group Captain," Carter gestured with an easy smile.

"Well damn it all," he muttered under his breath before turning to the bridge crew, "Shields up as well, step to it boys and girls!"

"Relax Group Captain, we all make mistakes," the USAF Lieutenant-Colonel consoled with a knowing smile.

"A mistake I won't have the luxury of making if you're not here, Lieutenant-Colonel," the RAF Group Captain replied easily, watching as the best of the Royal Air Force performed everything he asked them to do without a moment's hesitation. It gave him a swell of price to know he was commanding some of the best men and women the world had to offer. "I need to get used to the fact that I am not commanding Eurofighter Typhoons anymore, it's an honest to god spaceship."

If Sam had a rebuke for the newest commander of the Earth's Starfleet she didn't have the time to make it as the Battlecruiser exited hyperspace, the unmistakable form of the Goa'uld Ha'tak right in front of them. Sam did nothing but sit in her chair, hands on her lap as she waited for the commander of the ship to give the orders. She did not have to wait long.

The Goa'uld mothership, as expected, opened fire immediately, blasts of golden light escaping from the staff cannons imbedded in its hull. The blasts of yellow light streamed through the emptiness of space, looking to break open the _HMS Ark Royal _like a tin can. It was sorely disappointed. The space surrounding the Battlecruisers shone blue as the shields took the opening salvo of the enemy Mothership.

Next came making sure that the current Commander adapted to the combat situation as it unfolded, which he did without hesitation, "Launch fighter screen, rail gun emplacements target anything that's not ours, missile tubes ready!"

"Yes sir."

"The plasma beam cannon is off the table." Wolfe said, looking over at the Lieutenant-Colonel.

Carter shrugged, "It's up to you Group Captain, but it'll destroy the Ha'tak with a single shot."

"And the hostages along with it, can we weaken the shot to take out only the motherships shields and not the ship itself?"

"If you bring the overall power of the beam to forty percent then a single shot should take down the motherships shields without compromising the hull structure, but then you'll have to move in close to disable weapons banks and the engines."

"Of that I am aware, Lieutenant-Colonel," Wolfe replied before raising his voice. "Weaken beam cannon firing strength to forty percent, fire on my command."

Sam could already see the swarms of Death-Gliders escape from the hanger bays of the Ha'tak, ready and willing for battle. The squadrons of F-302's from the _Ark Royal _acted accordingly, coming from the port and starboard side launch bays of the Battlecruiser they had arrived on. Immediately the rail gun emplacements opened fire, sending streams of white light into the unknown as a screen to protect their own fighters.

The Death Gliders may have been the blueprint to which the F-302 was built, but from the moment the two sides met it was clear which was superior. Wolfe and Carter watched as the sixteen F-302 Interceptors outclassed, outmanoeuvred and outgunned enemy Death Gliders which outnumbered them by at least four to one.

The pinpoint accuracy of the thirty two rail gun emplacements dotted across the _Ark Royal's _hull also brought a deciding factor. Horatio watched as a trio of Death Gliders swooped in, managing to pass through their fighter screen, only to be brought within the sights of their starboard rail guns, specks of white light streamed towards them, turning the incoming fighters into blossoms of bright light and flame.

"Sublight to full, get us in range," Wolfe ordered and watched as the engines of the Battlecruiser flared and it moved forward, passing through the cloud of skirmishing Death Gliders and F-302's, rail gun emplacements swatting several of the Goa'uld attack craft like flies. The moment they exited the dog fight the Ha'tak opened fire once again, bright bursts of plasma impacted against the Battlecruisers shields, blazing blue as the damage was absorbed.

"Shields are holding steady, sir."

"We are in range."

"Fire plasma cannons!" Wolfe ordered sharply, and watched as two beams of narrow blue light fired from the Battlecruisers fore, each one a high intensity beam of superheated plasma, proven to be able to pierce any shield no matter how advanced. It was perhaps one of the most powerful weapons in the known galaxy, and it was gifted to them by their old allies which were, sadly, no longer with them.

Both beams slammed into the Ha'tak, the shields flared gold in an attempt to block them, but even at forty percent intensity the strength was sufficient to get what they wanted. The shields flared one last time in defiance before dying completely, and the moment they did the enemy warship began a tactical withdrawal.

"Don't let it escape, get us in close to them." Wolfe ordered. "Rail gun emplacements and missile tubes target their weapon banks and engines."

The _Ark Royal _quickly closed the distance between itself and the Ha'tak, shaking off the enemy ships attempts to pierce their own shields with their staff embankments. Missiles flared as they left the tubes, soaring through the empty darkness of space and slamming into the Ha'taks weapon banks with devastating effect. The Battlecruiser passed overhead, starboard rail guns continuing the work the missiles started. By the time they finished the pass only a few staff cannons were still functioning, and the engines had definitely been hit.

"I can confirm enemy ship is dead in the water."

"Inform Major Hood that his men can beam aboard whenever they are ready," Wolfe ordered.

"Yes Captain."

"Colonel Hood, enemy vessel is dead in the water, operation is a go."

* * *

"Copy that," Major George Hood replied into his earpiece as he unclipped the safety of his SA80 Assault Rifle and checked the sight. All around him his subordinate and fellow soldiers copied his movements, performing last minute checks of their weapons and equipment before the boarding action. He was the commanding officer and a hastily rushed together unit of forty men, coupled together from the _Arc Royal's _contingent of Royal Marines and the handful of United States Marines who had accompanied Colonel Carter.

The uniforms members of the SGC and Homeworld Security wore were so similar that only a few insignias and badges could tell a person apart by country. All of them wore the dark grey jumpsuits with specialised black Kevlar vests, almost identical to one another.

The noticeable differences between his boys and the yanks were their weapons. His boys all had the SA80 Assault Rifle, a trusty old girl which had been the mainstay primary weapon of British Infantry since the 1980's, while the yanks had the newer and sleeker FN P-90 Personal Defence Weapons. The yanks were also discernable from his boys by the good old stars and stripes stitched to their left shoulder, while his boys had the older red, white and blue of the union jack.

"Alright boys and girls, I apologise for bringing your holiday to an abrupt end but the bastards up top decided they can't survive without us." He turned to the assembled group, eyes checking with pride that he was not commanding a group of greenhorn cadets. Even the Americans seemed to know what they were doing. The tension melted with his joke, however bad it was, for their American cousins immediately began to relax. "We're about to perform a boarding action of an enemy vessel via teleportation, first time for most of us I know, so it should be quite a ride. Keep your damn breakfast in your gut. That goes double for you Anderson."

"Jesus boss that was one bloody time!" the large form of one of his most trusted NCO's grumbled, drawing a bout of good natured laughter from his fire team.

"And we'll never let you live it down!" Hood shot back with a vicious smile before turning back to the overall force. "It's been thrown at us quick, but we Marines are nothing if not adaptable. Break off into your fire teams, you've all memorised the schematics of the enemy cruiser so I know you guys will be able to navigate. Keep low, keep your eyes open and watch out for the bastards around you, we clear!?"

"Yes Major." His men shouted in unison, good lads the lot of them.

"Break off into your fire teams then," Hood ordered, watching his boys move as if someone had lit a fire under their asses. He then turned to the senior American officer. Sergeant Major Dominic Vasquez seemed like a capable enough frontline soldier; but he would reserve his own judgement until after the shooting stopped. "Sergeant Major, you and your boys know the drill."

The United States Marine smirked, snapping off a sharp salute to his temporary superior before turning to the eight men, two fire teams, under his command. "Alright jarheads, you heard the Major step to it!"

Hood smirked himself, cocky little bastard was the first thing that came to mind, before turning back to his eight fire teams, each one made up of four battle hardened Royal Marines who had seen combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq and _still_ came back for more. "_Hunter Nest _this is the _Pack _speaking. Release the hounds, let's hunt us some Foxes."

"Roger that Pack Leader, engaging now."

A flash of bright light, and the hanger bay which once held forty men and women was suddenly empty. One moment the Major was watching his men vanish in bluish white light, the next he was standing in what looked like a cargo hold, that was what the basic schematics said anyway, but Major Hood and his fire team were about to find out that it wasn't as empty as they had originally thought.

The Major and his men found themselves standing in the middle of a hornets' nest, soon coming to the conclusion that someone had the bright idea to turn the cargo hold into anything but. There were makeshift control panels and cabling everywhere, and about a dozen armed and surprised Jaffa warriors spread out around them.

The surprise didn't last long.

"_Jaffa!"_

"_Jaffa Kree, kree nel Jaffa!"_

"_Kel mal tak tauri!"_

"Well that's not good," he heard one of his men, Simmons he guessed, mutter, and he agreed.

"Marines, duck and cover!" he yelled, bringing his SA80 Assault rifle to his shoulder and firing a burst, watching as the nearest Jaffa was riddled with armour piercing rounds, sparks flying from his metallic armour as he convulsed and fell.

He was suddenly moving, his three Marines following suit, the air inside the cargo bay suddenly echoing with the bursts of staff weapons and the rhythmic bangs of gunfire. A black of plasma impacted on a pillar of some description as he ran past it, thanking his lucky stars as he spun around and squeezed off a few more rounds in the general direction of the main barrage.

Golden energy bursts seemed to explode all around them as the Major led his fire team through the chamber, suddenly glad to see so many obstacles in his path, seeing some cover in the form of large cables and pylons about five meters to his right, he saw a Jaffa warrior skid to a halt right in front of him and bringing his rifle to waist level fired a three second burst which sent him to the ground to met his maker.

His run and subsequent dive sent the veteran Marine into the mass, where he quickly righted himself and fired at will at anything that moved, his three subordinates following suit as they created a rough circle and let it rip. Private Singh had lost his Assault Rifle during the chaotic dash to cover, and had to make do with his Glock pistol, which he was in the middle of reloading, Privates Gilroy and Simmons were still with him too, and thankfully still had their Assault Rifles.

"Pour it on 'em boys!" the old Marine roared over the din of staff weapons and gunfire. "Don't give 'em room to breathe!"

A warrior seemed to pop around a high conduit, his staff weapon armed and firing before he even turned the full way. A few bursts of plasma slammed into the thick energy cable beside him and almost burned halfway through, but Gilroy managed to take the Jaffa down before he could pull of another shot.

"Pack Alpha to all units, we jumped into a bloody viper's nest, anyone read!?"

"_This is Pack Charlie, encountering moderate enemy resistance, stand by!"_

"_Pack Foxtrot reporting, managed to hook up with Bravo and moving to your position now boss!"_

"_Pack Delta here, we're in some serious shit as well boss, there are mother fucking Jaffa everywhere!"_

"Shit," he muttered. There was a flash of golden light and Simmons was sent flying, chest smoking from the obvious signs of a plasma burn, the poor bugger was dead before he hit the deck. "Simmons is down. I repeat we have a man down!"

Grinding his teeth together Hood fired off another burst from his rifle, felt the weapon click empty and rolled back into the cover of the surrounding superstructure, removing the empty clip from his primary weapon and effortlessly slamming a fresh curved clip of ammunition into place. Singh quickly took his place, firing off a few rounds from his sidearm until Hood could bring his weapon up and back into the fight.

His earpiece crackled to life, and the slightly accented voice of the Yankee Sergeant Major Vasquez barely managed to break through the static to his ear, "Major Hood, this is Ghost Two reporting in. Do you guys need some help?"

"That goes without saying Sergeant Major." Hood bit out as he fired another three second barrage from his position, immediately finding cover as a trio of plasma blasts burned into his cover, "How soon can you get here!?"

"Be on your six in three... two... one... fire!"

A barrage of machine gun and assault rifle fire joined the current sounds of combat. The American fire team had managed to use the Jaffa's concentration on Hood's own unit to make it to the mouth of the cargo bay and lay down suppressing fire with their P-90's, Hood saw at least three Jaffa warriors go down before the rest brought their weapons to bear on the Americans, and his team saw their chance and opened fire. Stuck in a crossfire between the two Tau'ri fire teams the remaining Jaffa doggedly continued the fight, but they were caught in the open and more than two thirds of their number were KIA.

"Not bad," he heard Gilroy mutter.

"How's Simmons," he barked, though he knew the answer.

"Dead, boss."

"Well damn it all." He ground out, sure he had lost men before but he never liked it. "Ask the _Royal _to pick him up, we'll continue on."

"Yes sir."

"Sergeant Major." He shouted from his defensive point, "Any casualties on your end?"

"None thankfully," the American replied as he stood up to his full height, using hand signals to order his men to watch the main exit, Hood did the same with his last two as he rose to his own height and walked out towards the Sergeant Major. If any Jaffa were still alive they would have fired on them by now. "This was supposed to be a cargo bay."

"It was," Hood agreed.

"The schematics were wrong?" Vasquez frowned.

"Or the mother-ship has gone through some last minute renovations," Hood replied, looking around. "Either way I'd say it would be a good idea to hold this area, get a few techies down here to see if they can get any data from these computers."

"Hmm," Vasquez nodded in agreement. "Orders are no different from when we first came in."

"Agreed," Hood replied with a nod of his own. "Search and destroy, any Jaffa who do not surrender are to be put down, hostages are to be safely extracted at all cost and if you see a Goa'uld try and stun them. It would be a nice little bonus to free the hosts from those parasites instead of killing them."

"You don't have to tell me twice."

* * *

"My lady, shields are down, engines have failed."

"The Tau'ri vessel has finished its second pass. All staff cannons have been destroyed."

"We have reports of enemy infiltration of the ship. Tau'ri fire teams have taken the main cargo bay, heavy casualties!"

Athena ground her teeth, eyes ablaze with fury as she heard the reports flood in to the Pel'tak, her mind burning with questions even as the true dire nature of her position began to sink in. The Tau'ri Battlecruiser had managed to catch up with them, how? By her calculations they were at least a day ahead of them, something the half hour detour she had ordered should not have made much of a dent in, yet here they were.

Had the Tau'ri managed to increase the performance of their hyperdrive technology? The more she thought of it the more a chill began to make its way up her spine. It appeared the humans had gained more from the now extinct Asgard than some new fancy weapons. The information they had been given must have been absolute, every technical innovation and in-depth knowledge of the workings of the galaxy must have been gifted to the Tau'ri.

If that was the case then Athena had grossly miscalculated. She had made her calculations under the assumption that she was facing the humans with their level of technology before the Ori Invasion, she failed to take into account, or even believed for that matter, that the Tau'ri could unlock enough from the Asgards gift to upgrade their ships so quickly. She should have made her calculations under the premise of being pursued by an actual Asgard _O'Neill-class _Starship.

"We have reports of battle in several positions across the ship," one of the Jaffa reported. "The Tau'ri infiltration teams are more numerous than we originally predicted, now estimated at platoon strength."

"Heavy fighting detected near Lord Zeus's hibernation chamber!"

"Contact the First Prime, inform him of the situation."

"The ship is lost," Athena spoke up, gaining the attention of the Jaffa. "All that is left is to consolidate our losses. Contact First Prime Heracles, gather his elite guard and take Lord Zeus to his personal Tel'tak."

"Yes my lady!"

"Order all surviving warriors to fight to the last, in honour of Lord Zeus and the restoration of the Empire! Kalach shal tek!"

"Kalach shal tek!"

Their fervour restored Athena turned back to her thoughts. All may not be lost. There was still that human female they found, obviously she was not a member of the Tau'ri and from her outburst her people worshipped the very pantheon that she and Lord Zeus were members of. Her people's civilisation could be their salvation, a way to bring the Goa'uld back from the brink of destruction and back where they belonged, as the undisputed masters of the galaxy.

She turned and began walking from the chamber, turning to the Second Prime as the main doors to the ship opened. "Second Prime Achilles, select two warriors and follow me."

"Yes, my lady." The lieutenant replied with a nod, turning and selecting two warriors from the Pel'tak before falling into step behind her. Athena walked with a purpose down the main corridor towards the torture chamber where she had left her newest toy.

"Are there any signs of the Tau'ri vermin in our path?" she asked.

"Not as yet, my lady." Achilles responded.

"Good, send one of your warriors to prepare another Tel'tak, do not use your communications. The Tau'ri scum may have already tapped into them." Athena spoke these words quickly and with a purpose.

"Yes my lady."

"And prepare one with medical equipment. It won't do us much good if our salvation bled out."

* * *

Rail guns flared, spewing torrents of tracer rounds into the surrounding space. The last few Death Gliders doggedly continued to attack, to swoop down, firing their staff cannons as they soared by. But the shields of the Battlecruiser continued to hold strong, flaring a rippling blue with every impact. Another enemy fighter blossomed in an explosion of flame and torn apart fuselage as it was caught by a burst of fire. Its partner banked hard to miss the destruction caused to his wingman.

Colonel Samantha Carter sat in the chair to the right of the commander, watching the battle unfold with a calculating stare. She admitted that Colonel Wolfe and his men were certainly fairing very well for their first engagement against the Goa'uld, and would likely be the last fight against the parasitic creatures which had plagued their galaxy for thousands of years.

But she was also taking in other things than the proficiency of the _Ark Royal's _crew_. _She was watching how the new technological upgrades to the ship were fairing. The Asgard's gift of knowledge was certainly shinning through with this new BC-304 Battlecruiser. The hyperdrive engines had been upgraded to match the Asgard variant, nearly thrice as fast as they were when they were reverse engineered. The shields had also been suitably upgraded to the Asgard variant, this, alongside the beam weaponry made the _Daedalus-class _far superior to the Ha'tak they were now facing.

These upgrades were also being made to the Battlecruisers compliment of F-302 Swallowtail Interceptors. All sixteen of the craft were also upgraded with shields, their engines tweaked so that they were twice as fast, and even more manoeuvrable than before. It was even theorised that the fighters could perform zero gravity manoeuvres and rotations, though these potential upgrades were still in basic trials. An F-302 was a match for five times its number in Death Gliders in any engagement, which accounted for the current casualty list.

"Status report," Wolfe asked.

"Captain Grand reports that most of the enemy force has been eliminated, his squadrons are currently conducting mopping up operations." One of the controllers reported. "Casualties were light, three F-302's destroyed, one fatality."

"Launch rescue operations for the stranded pilots," the Colonel ordered. "Inform Grant and his lads that they have done well. What about Major Hood and his boys?"

"Major Hood's infiltration teams have reported success on all fronts, minimum casualties. The main cargo bay, engine room and prisons have all been taken. We've found hostages, locations have been sent to us."

"Excellent, can they be transported?"

"Yes sir."

"Do it, transport the hostages to the medical bay and inform medical of the impending arrival."

"Yes sir."

"What about the ship?" Carter asked, looking over at Colonel Wolfe. "If we can capture that ship even partially intact we can hopefully salvage some Goa'uld technology."

"I thought the Asgard technology we have is well ahead of the Goa'uld tech," Wolfe frowned, looking over at the USAF Lieutenant-Colonel.

"It is, but the Goa'uld have pieces of technology the SGC have been interested in obtaining for years, like a Sarcophagus, healing devices and Kara Kesh, even the basic technology of their staff cannons can be useful for future purposes." Carter explained, looking over to the RAF Colonel with a calculating gaze, outwardly calm but inwardly hoping he would see where she was coming from.

"They'll attempt to activate a self-destruct, is that right?"

"Yes, but if your men can capture and hold their bridge I can beam in and disable the mechanism." Carter responded.

Wolfe thought for a moment, "Very well, contact Major Hood, see if he can reroute a few fire teams toward the Ha'tak Bridge. See if they can take and hold it."

"Yes Captain."

"Thank you Captain," Carter said with a smile.

"We'll try and take your Ha'tak Lieutenant-Colonel, but if the heat seems too much I'll be calling them off, understood?"

"Completely Colonel," Samantha smiled.

"Packs Delta and Easy are within striking distance of the enemy bridge."

"Very well, direct them to the bridge and tell them to expect moderate to heavy resistance. Caution is advised."

"Yes sir."

* * *

She awoke with a start. Caroline didn't know how long she had been unconscious for, but it couldn't have been for very long. She could now hear the unmistakable sounds of gunfire, muffled by distance alongside strange whooshing noises and thuds. There was definitely fighting happening nearby.

Adrenaline pumped through her veins; suddenly she found a reservoir of strength she had thought dimmed a long time ago. She didn't know when she started to struggle against her shackles, snarling in exertion as she fought against her restraints, a fruitless struggle but she refused to surrender to these freaks.

She knew she was just making her wounds worse by struggling. Blood was already beginning to flow from the hole in her abdomen, her head was buzzing and her hands were oozing blood from the still blackened wounds but she did not care. She knew those wounds meant she would be lucky to flex her fingers again let alone grasp a joystick and pilot, she would probably never be able to fly again.

The hydraulic doors whined as they opened, and Carol looked up, eyes widening in sudden fear as a familiar angelic visage entered the chamber. The woman, no, the demon who dared call herself Athena smirked at her and with a simple wave of her hand one of her warriors stalked forward and drew a serpent like device, raising it to chest level, the device popped up like a cobra in attack mode, whitish blue electricity flaring.

She was going to die.

She was sure of it, she was going to die.

Whether she stayed here or went with them, she knew she was going to die.

Something caught the guards attention and he whirled around, the shot meant for her firing a blast of electrical light into the still open doorway, it was followed a moment later by shouts and then the rattling of machine gun fire. The warrior's entire form convulsed sparks flying from several shots before he fell to the ground.

The demon spun around, raising her hand, which was already glowing a deep scarlet, the air around her rippled blue before she vanished in a flash of electric bluish white light as if she had never been there in the first place.

"Bogey down!"

"The Goa'uld escaped!"

Two soldiers moved with caution into the chamber, in uniforms Carol had never seen before. They wore black camouflage overalls with Kevlar flak vests and carrying weapons which reminded her of her own peoples but also of a different design. She had never seen an assault rifle with the clip in the rear, and never a clip which was that curved.

"We've got another hostage in here!" one of the men shouted.

"Clear!" shouted the other.

The first soldier moved over to her, placing a hand on her chest to force her back onto the table. She saw another human face, but her vision was beginning to blur, signalling that she was about to black out yet again. "Relax girl, we're going to get you out of here and get you patched up."

"Colonel, we have a single hostage in critical condition in need of a pickup, over!?"

"Copy that Pack Foxtrot, beaming her away now."

Before Carol was enveloped in almost blinding white light she saw the soldiers left shoulder, and the patch which was stitched onto it, more specifically she managed to make out the words. It read Stargate Command, _Arc Royal, _and the final word, one which caught her attention and refused to let go, even as the darkness took her once again.

Earth

* * *

"We have movement!"

The Lieutenants shout caught both the RAF Colonel and USAF Lieutenant-Colonels attention, a video feed appeared, a holographic image popping into existence on the main view-screen, showing a Goa'uld transport soaring from a secondary hanger bay. The small vessel peeled hard to the right and made a run for open space.

"I have a dozen life-signs, including two Goa'uld!"

"It seems the leaders are trying to make a run for it." Wolfe commented, eyes watching the vessel as he turned to his comm. officer. "Contact Grant, I want some F-302's to peel off and intercept. Try and disable the ship, but if it looks like it'll escape then destroy it."

"Yes Colonel."

"What about the Hat'ak, have our boys taken the bridge yet?"

"Two of our teams and an American fire-team are currently engaging. They are reporting heavy resistance, and it looks like the self-destruct has been initiated."

"Damn," the RAF Colonel growled before turning to Carter. "How long is the time limit on a self-destruct?"

"Usually around half an hour, depending on the Goa'uld," Carter replied.

As the pyramid shaped Tel'tak continued to make a run for open space three F-302's broke away from the main formation and gave chase, their Asgard enhanced sublight engines quickly began closing the distance between them and the millennia old Goa'uld transport craft. Samantha calculated that the lead F-302 fighter would be within long range missile lock within the next twenty seconds.

"I'm getting a reading from the transport, the ships spooling up its hyperdrive engines!"

"Will the fighters make it in time!?"

Even as Wolfe asked this he watched, a curse on the tip of his tongue, as the Tel'tak activated its hyperdrive engines, a dark hyperspace portal opened much like a blossoming flower, and the small craft vanished within its depths. The RAF Colonel knew that he had a victory, perhaps one of the last victories in the long running war between his people and the Goa'uld, but it wasn't a total victory. His forces had defeated his enemy's army, crushed their troops, rescued the hostages and were close to capturing their ship, but the escape of the Goa'uld leadership meant that the war would go on.

"Can we follow?"

"No sir, we don't have any star charts this far out."

"Message from the Ha'tak, our fire-teams have taken the bridge. The way is clear for the Lieutenant-Colonel."

At the mention of her rank Sam stood up from her chair and traded a look with the ships Commander, who nodded his head. "Teleport the Lieutenant-Colonel to the Pel'tak, get that self-destruct taken offline."

A flash of bright whitish blue light, and Carter vanished completely from where she had once stood. The atmosphere in the bridge was taken over by an intense silence, so palpable it could be cut by a butter knife. The only sounds were the odd beep of the electronics, the occasional blast of static, nothing else.

Then the voice of Samantha Carter, scratchy with occasional static, broke through the silence of the bridge. _"Ark Royal, this is Lieutenant-Colonel Samantha Carter. The self-destruct has been disabled, the ship is ours."_

* * *

_**So the New Year is upon us, and yes I did say that I would begin on a Sunday but I decided that you guys have been kept waiting long enough. Consider this something of a new year's gift from me to you. Thank you everyone who has left a favourite, a follow and a review, they mean a lot. A few people are worried this will become a carbon copy of 'A Brutal Truth' and I hope this chapter puts those worries to rest.**_

_**Once again give me your feedback, thoughts, opinions and little bits of advice here and there will be much appreciated. I watched SG-1, SG-Atlantis and Battlestar Galactica, though I got bored of Stargate Universe and never bothered to look into Caprica I like to think I know enough to keep this interesting. Once again to my policies constructive criticism is fine, flames are a no. Cue the anonymous troll...**_

_**Anyway, Happy New Year, a late Merry Christmas and May you all have a good 2014. See you in a week.**_


	3. Authors Note

_**The Thirteenth**_

_**Author's Note**_

Alright, sorry I know you guys were expecting a new chapter with this note, but a few reviewers have brought my attention to something regarding the latest chapter. I had hoped I had changed it enough but looking back over this chapter and the one done by Big Z1776 and rereading over it I have to agree, it is a carbon copy.

I apologise to BIG Z1776 and to you guys as well, you deserve better than this, so I'm going to be deleting this chapter and taking a good hard look at future chapters as well, basically I'm going to be giving this story a complete overhaul, and this will take a little bit of time. Give me a month and I'll re-begin the story again.

If you have any further questions or thoughts on the story then by all means PM me and I'll try and get back to you. Thanks again.

Peace out.


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